By Lee Sykes

August 2006

In this article we are going to give you an introduction to Google Adsense and provide some tips for getting the most from Adsense on your websites. Following this we have also created a video tutorial which walks you through how to incorporate Adsense with DotNetNuke.

Google Adsense Introduction

Google Adsense is a quick and easy way to monetize your website. With Adsense you can display text and image ads that are targeted to match the subject matter of a website page.

This means that if you create an article covering ‘DotNetNuke Skins’ the ads from Google Adsense will display DotNetNuke related advertisements.

You earn money from the advertisements on a cost-per-click basis. The amount that you earn per click varies dependant on the keyword and the number of advertisers bidding for that keyword.

The Advertisements

The adverts displayed by Google come from the Google Adwords service:

This is where advertisers can bid to display their advert whenever a user searches on Google for a certain keyword. An advertiser also has the option to display their advertisements on the publishing network (websites that display Google Adsense).

Displaying Google Adsense

You can choose from a variety of advertisement banner sizes to display on your website along with options for customizing the colour of the text adverts. This allows you to easily format the advertisements to match the design style of your website.

Once you sign up for a Google Adsense account you can configure the banner style and colours that you wish to use. Google will supply you with the JavaScript code that you need, all you have to do is paste the JavaScript into the source code of your website.

How Much Can You Earn?

There are several factors that affect how much you can earn from Google Adsense. Some Adsense publishers earn a five figure income each month whereas others earn a few dollars per month. Your income from Adsense depends on:

• The cost per click for each advertisement
• The number of visitors / page views your site receives
• CTR - Click Through Rate for the ads

You have to earn $100 or more before Google will issue a payment to you. The total is rolled over each month until you exceed $100.

Adsense Tips

If you view the resources at the end of this article there are several links to articles already created that outline tips for increasing Adsense revenue. Here I will outline the main tips:

Ad Placement

The position of the Adsense advertisements is very important for increasing click through rates. Google have created a heatmap to help you decide the best placement for your ads.

Number of Ads

You are allowed to display up to 3 ad units on a page and a single link unit. If you can, make the most of this and display all of these ads using different combinations of banner sizes and locations across your page.

Colour of Ads and Blending

Research has found that the best CTRs are achieved by blending the advertisements to match the style of your website design. For instance, remove all of the borders from the ads and change the colour of the text links to match the colour of the links within your own website. This helps to create the perception that the links are part of the page and not advertisements.

Other techniques are to place images alongside the advertisements in order to grab the attention of the visitors’ eye. Be careful with these techniques though as Google is known for banning publishers who try to trick visitors to click on the adverts.

For further tips visit the resources below.

Useful Adsense Resources

Incorporating Google Adsense into DotNetNuke Skins - Video Tutorial

Sign up for Google Adsense:

Digital Point Adsense forum for sharing Adsense tips

Useful article which outlines the Google Adsense programme: How to boost your adsense revenue

Advertising placement on web pages

Google Adsense Tour

Google Adsense Policies